Roman shade with folding sheets

ABSTRACT

A roman shade with folding sheets includes a head rail, two brakes, two cords, two ladder tapes each having a top mounted to the head rail and comprising folding members, foldable sheets, and rings provided on the ladder tapes and connected to the top ends of the sheets. A bottom of the bottom sheet is mounted to a bottom of the ladder tape. Each ring is mounted about one cord which having its bottom end tied off at a top of the bottom sheet. Pulling one cord will raise or lower the sheets. Each folding member has a top mounted to the top of the sheet. The other cord is connected to bottoms of the folding members. Pulling the other cord will lift bottoms of the folding members to wrap the sheets about the tops thereof. Stopping pulling either cord will position the shade or the sheets at a desired position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to window coverings, and more particularlyto a retractable roman shade with improved characteristics.

2. Related Art

A conventional type of covering for window or the like is known as aroman shade. The shade comprises a head rail, and a sheet of draperymaterial connected to a bottom of the head rail. A brake is provided inthe head rail. A cord is connected to the head rail and is extendedtherethrough. The sheet comprises a plurality of lateral folds. Twocolumns of apertures are formed on the folds. The cord passes thecolumns of apertures to tie off at the bottom aperture. It is thuspossible of positioning the shade at any one of a plurality ofintermediate positions from its retracted position to its extendedposition by appropriately manipulating the cord.

However, the well known roman shade does not meet the trend due to lackof change and others. Thus, continuing improvements in the exploitationof roman shade are constantly being sought.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a romanshade with folding sheets being adapted to either retract or extend bymanipulating one cord or have its constituent sheets to wrap bymanipulating the other cord for providing another fashion of regulatingthe light passing through.

To achieve the above and other objects, the present invention provides ashade comprising a head rail; a lift control assembly comprising twobrakes mounted to the head rail, two cords adapted to pass acorresponding one of the brakes, and two ladder tapes each having a topend mounted to the head rail and comprising a plurality of foldingmembers; a plurality of foldable sheets inclined forward, the sheetsbeing spaced apart between the top ends and bottom ends of the laddertapes wherein a bottom end of the bottom sheet is mounted to the bottomend of the ladder tape; and a plurality of rings formed on the laddertapes and connected to the top ends of the sheets, each ring beingmounted about one cord; wherein one cord has its bottom end tied off atthe top end of the bottom sheet such that pulling one cord will raise orlower the sheets, and stopping the pulling will position the shade atone of a plurality of positions from a retracted position to an extendedposition by lockingly engaging one brake with one cord; and each foldingmember has a top end mounted to the top end of the sheet, the other cordis connected to bottom ends of the folding members such that pulling theother cord will lift the bottom ends of the folding members to wrap thesheets about the top ends thereof, and stopping the pulling willposition the sheets at one of a plurality of positions the wrappedposition to an extended position thereof by lockingly engaging the otherbrake with the other cord.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a preferred embodiment of romanshade with folding sheets according to the invention where the shade isin an extended position;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 where the shade is in a retractedposition;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the shade in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of a portion of the shade showing anumber of sheets in its extended position;

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the shade showing all of thesheets in its wrapped position; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 6, a shade (e.g., roman shade) in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a head rail 10, alift control assembly 20, and a plurality of rectangular sheets 30capable of wrapping around. Each component is discussed in detailedbelow.

The lift control assembly 20 comprises two brakes 21 mounted to a bottomof the head rail 10. Either one of cords 22 and 23 is adapted to passthe corresponding brake 21. The lift control assembly 20 furthercomprises two vertical ladder tapes 24 having a top end mounted to thebottom of the head rail 10. The foldable sheets 30 are equally spacedapart between top ends and bottom ends of the ladder tapes 24. Theladder tape 24 has its bottom end mounted to a bottom end 32 of thesheet 30. The ladder tape 24 comprises a channel 25 and a plurality ofnonrigid folding members 26. Each of the folding members 26 is disposedto have its top end mounted to a top end 31 of the sheet 30 and itslower end inclined toward a front of the shade in an extended positionas shown in FIG. 1.

The top ends 31 of the sheets 30 are mounted to backs of the channels25. As shown in FIG. 1, the free bottom end 32 of an upper sheet 30 isproximate a top end 31 of an immediate lower sheet 30 in the extendedposition of the shade. The sheet 30 consists of a plurality of lateralbars 33 connected together. Preferably, the bar 33 is formed of bambooand thus the sheet 30 is foldable. As such, wrapping the sheet 30 aboutitself will regulate the light passing through as detailed later.

Two columns of rings 27 are formed on the channels 25. Each ring 27 ismounted to the channel 25 and is connected to the top end 31 of thesheet 30. The ring 27 is adapted to mount about the cord 22 which hasits bottom end tied off at the top end 31 of the lowest sheet 30 (seeFIG. 6). As such, it is possible of varying length of the ladder tapes24 by retracting or extending the sheets 30. In detail, a user may pullthe cord 22 to draw up the sheets 30 together to a position immediatelybelow the head rail 10 by a predetermined minimum distance (see FIG. 2).That is, the shade is in a retracted position. Alternatively, the usermay pull the cord 22 to fully lower the sheets 30 (see FIG. 1). That is,the shade is in an extended position. It is understood that the shade isadapted to position at any one of a plurality of positions other thanthe retracted position and the extended position by appropriatelymanipulating the cord 22 due to the provision of one of the brakes 21 asknown in the art.

The cord 23 is connected to bottom ends of the folding members 26 at aplurality of locations. Thus, in a case of the shade extended a user maypull the cord 23 to wrap each of the sheets 30 about itself (i.e., thebottom end 32 of the sheet 30 wrapped upward about the top end 31thereof since the lower end of the folding member 26 is lifting) fromthe position of FIG. 4 to the position of FIG. 5 or FIG. 6. It is alsounderstood that the sheets 30 are adapted to position at any one of aplurality of positions other than the wrapped position (see FIG. 5 or 6)and the extended position (see FIG. 4) by appropriately manipulating thecord 23 due to the provision of the other brake 21. This characteristicof the invention can additionally regulate the light passing through theshade in addition to raising the shade as shown in FIG. 2 or loweringthe shade as shown in FIG. 1.

While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means ofspecific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could bemade thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from thescope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.

1. A roman shade with folding sheets comprising: a head rail; a liftcontrol assembly comprising two brakes mounted to the head rail, twocords adapted to pass a corresponding one of the brakes, and two laddertapes each having a top end mounted to the head rail and comprising aplurality of folding members; a plurality of foldable sheets inclinedforward, the sheets being spaced apart between the top ends and bottomends of the ladder tapes wherein a bottom end of the bottom sheet ismounted to the bottom end of the ladder tape; and a plurality of ringsformed on the ladder tapes and connected to the top ends of the sheets,each ring being mounted about one cord; wherein one cord has its bottomend tied off at the top end of the bottom sheet such that pulling onecord will raise or lower the sheets, and stopping the pulling willposition the shade at one of a plurality of positions from a retractedposition to an extended position by lockingly engaging one brake withone cord; and each folding member has a top end mounted to the top endof the sheet, the other cord is connected to bottom ends of the foldingmembers such that pulling the other cord will lift the bottom ends ofthe folding members to wrap the sheets about the top ends thereof, andstopping the pulling will position the sheets at one of a plurality ofpositions the wrapped position to an extended position thereof bylockingly engaging the other brake with the other cord.
 2. The shade ofclaim 1, wherein the sheet comprises a plurality of lateral barsconnected together.
 3. The shade of claim 2, wherein the bar is formedof bamboo.
 4. The shade of claim 1, wherein the ladder tape furthercomprises a channel having a back mounted to the top ends of the sheets,and wherein an upper one of the sheets is proximate the top end of animmediate lower one of the sheets in the extended position of the shade.